Opinion

I think it time that Los Alamos ban all food for humans. We all know that most food offered here is, well, expensive, and of questionable quality anyway.

Everyone can periodically leave the hill for meals, and leave our money and waste food outside the county. Then we will have fewer bears, squirrels, deer, crows, etc. Cut down and burn all fruit trees, plow under all backyard crops, keep all pets on leash or indoors at all times.

If no one eats here, it is less of a burden to keep our rolling trash carts in the house so as not to allow any unpleasant

New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) recently released a draft of proposed changes to New Mexico STEM-ready science standards to be voted during the hearing Oct. 16.

They can be read in full on the PED website (http://ped.state.nm.us/ped/PublicNotices.html), under rule 6.29.10. These proposed changes scrap facts like the age of the Earth and the fact that temperatures have been steadily rising in the past years. The word evolution has also been taken out.

As a mother, a scientist, and a science educator, I find such censoring alarming,

When I was a little girl growing up in New York State in the 1970s, my parents bought their first house in a small village with good schools to raise their family. We moved into a one story ranch on a culdesac where all the other houses looked pretty much the same with manicured lawns and an elm tree out front. Kids played in the streets until the sun went down and we all had big back yards to play in. Back then fencing wasn't common so we kids could run from back yard to back yard as though it was all common land. It was the American dream for a young family.

The alarm blares … I wake from my slumber. I stagger down into the basement and enter the code into the cipher lock, place my hand into the hand geometry scanner and look into the retinal scanner, which opens our bear proof vault.

Man, it really stinks in here. I’d install a vent to the outside, but the smell would likely attract baby bears that would climb down the duct … and they’d likely start reproducing. Ever seen Gremlins??

I carefully wheel the bin out and onto our freight elevator. It rises up into the high bay. “4:27 a.m.

First the County wants to fine the residents of Los Alamos for weeds and peeling paint. Now they want to fine residents for keeping their trash bins outside? This is a growing trend with our local politicians. All it takes is one little whiny cry baby to file a complaint and the County overreacts.

Every time the County can’t control their wasteful and excessive spending they raise the Utility Rates and Property Taxes. Every time there is a trivial complaint they have a “knee jerk” response without thinking things through.

I would like to follow-on with Kathy Willcut's good idea (link); the County can use that space for some of it's recreational initiatives!

I was dismayed to read that the Kroger company has such wide latitude in choosing which businesses can move into the old Smith's space. However, Kroger owns the land, so they can do as they please. But with the County pressing forward with the recreational initiatives (made famous ... or 'infamous' by the Rec Bond debate), why not use that perfectly sited, wide space with ample parking for one of it's multifunction centers?

I have been following this Code Violation Ordinance issue closely and wanted to add my two cents. Our neighbors are frustrated. They are being told that they have to undertake large and small home repair projects within unreasonable time limits. People are hurting.

Council members are hearing about this and trying to figure out what to do.

One request made of the public is to meet with councilors individually to talk about specific situations.

I have been following this Code Violation Ordinance issue closely and wanted to add my two cents. Our neighbors are frustrated. They are being told that they have to undertake large and small home repair projects within unreasonable time limits. People are hurting.

Council members are hearing about this and trying to figure out what to do.

One request made of the public is to meet with councilors individually to talk about specific situations.

I have waited until having the opportunity to read all of Mr. Izraelevitz’s (Council Chair David Izraelevitz) partitioned letters to the editor. Also, he accepted an invitation to have coffee with me and discuss some of the issues I take with the current ordinance and its enforcement. Heather Ortega joined me and I do believe we covered a lot of the concerns we have both heard from the community.

I will now respond with my own letter to the editor and as I do not intend to partition my letter, I will try to be brief.

In Part 1 of my editorial on code enforcement, I covered the “why” behind the program, and in Part 2, I addressed the “how” of the process that is involved. Today in Part 3, I would like to talk more philosophically about code enforcement and what the County and the community can do to assist with resources.

Let me address the “government-encroachment” argument first which I have heard a few times.

I am indebted to David Izraelevitz (link) for explaining to citizens in excruciating detail how burdensome, unpleasant, aggressive and bureaucratic the enforcement of weeds over 18 inches has become in Los Alamos. For this enforcement we must create acronyms, have well defined timelines and threaten court action. It's really difficult for me to think of something so anathema to good neighbors and neighborhoods and a clearer demonstration of poor governance.

That there are reports from citizens that the "best practices" described are not followed might also further

Los Alamos’ take on the old Smith’s building is clearly that of a town not dependent on retail.

Why turn to the old standby of multi-family housing or offices – more of NOT developing retail – rather than what downtown really needs? Why do we endlessly try “to bring in new residents” considering the grim housing situation for those already here, or is that just herd instinct in a nation so infatuated by growth its been bankrupted by it?

And, why always the “glass half empty” attitude about our numbers rather than that we’re one of the wealthiest towns in the nation,

Remember that discussion a couple of months back about how sewer rates were being rubber-stamped each year for the past five years at 8 percent each year. The Department of Public Utilities wanted an 8 percent increase this year to show that they had revenues to get financing for the White Rock Water Treatment Facility (WRWTF or WWTF).

Remember that I was a strong advocate of tying the increases to the specific projects that they were using as rationale so that they could be removed when that obligation went away?

In Part 1 of my editorial on code enforcement, I covered the “why” behind the program. Today, I would like to address in some detail the “how” of code enforcement, a process which is managed within the Community Development Department (CDD) by two full-time Code Enforcement Officers. My hope is that by explaining a little more about the process, I can help clear up confusion and concern in our community.

Let’s begin with clarifying two terms that seem to be interchangeable when the public discusses this sensitive topic, but are

David Izraelevitz works hard for Los Alamos and to support our citizens but on the topic of the nuisance ordinance his opinions are misguided and his advocated solutions inappropriate (link).

There are undoubtedly problems that need to be addressed, but the requirement to solve those larger problems has created an ordinance that is causing unnecessary and useless annoyances to reasonable citizens. Overzealous enforcement is at tax payers expense and adds little value to the community

It's hard to disagree with Izraelevitz’s statement “A community thrives when

Mr. Visel’s latest offensive and dangerous diatribe (link) attacking the important work of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence (NMPGV) is a troubling reminder that we live in a time when a complete disregard for the facts and intentional distortion of the truth is the new law of the land.

He states, rather emphatically, that NMPGV is financially backed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. There is not an ounce of truth to this statement.

On behalf of the Pojoaque Valley Middle School Cheerleaders, this letter is a request for support from you and/or your business.

In the upcoming school year, our cheerleading squad plans on supporting and cheering at all of our Middle School teams atheltic events which includes football, volleyball, and both girls and boys basketball. We are incredibly excited to represent PVMS to the best of our ability.

However, the cost for us to attend and support our Middle School athletes at all of these activities has placed us in need of support from

As the Sheriff of Los Alamos County, I would like to express my strong support of Jeff Apodaca in his bid to be the next Governor of New Mexico.

I grew up with Jeff and have known him, his values, and his character since we were 12 years old. Together we attended junior high through our college days at the University of New Mexico. Jeff was presented with some very difficult circumstances while he was young, and his unwavering faith and strength helped him overcome cancer. This is a true testament to his character.

Miranda Viscoli, Co-president of New Mexicans To Prevent Gun Violence, claims her organization is NOT a gun control group.

Everything she stated in her recent letter was right out of the Gun Controller’s Playbook. This organization, as well as all the other gun control groups, are financially backed by none other than former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and are using his money to pay for these so called “Buybacks”.

First of all, It should not be called a “Gun Buyback” since you never sold them in the first place.

On Monday the USA remembered the 16th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and the failed attempt to attack another DC building that resulted in the plane crash near Shanksville, Penn.

The combined death toll from these four events was 2995. Please consider the further death toll from these attacks:

The Afghanistan and Iraq Wars were, and still are being, fought as a response to the events of 9/11. The combined toll at present of military people from the USA, Iraq and Afghanistan, and coalition forces

There was a comment by a former CA highway patrol officer who said that he could easily find three violations on any new vehicle. That kind of enforcement would be considered abusive and non-productive, unless he was looking to generate revenue. The public would really prefer that he focus on issues that present a danger to the traveling public or the driver and their occupants.

The terms of the Nuisance Ordinance are not extreme, but using that ordinance to enforce petty aesthetic issues, is an abuse of